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In our August ImpactPHL Conversations session we will explore the impact investing opportunities to support returning citizens.
"In the U.S., 650,000 men and women are released from prison each year. Returning citizens have an unemployment rate of more than 75% in the first year of release, making basic necessities such as health care, housing, and custody of their children often out of reach. The U.S. economy loses $100 billion in GDP as a result of this employment disparity.”
– U.S. Department of Justice
Philadelphia is moving into new systems for how to navigate the re-entry process with fair chance hiring practices that allow returning citizens to expand their employment opportunities, build their entrepreneurial skills, and the importance of networks that connect across race, background and wealth in ways that better stitch the top to the bottom as tools that make positive change.
During this session, you will look at what investors can do to learn about investments that support fair chance hiring across many companies, how to transition support to entrepreneurial training for the inside and how to get investments connected by well trained returning citizens who are impactful entrepreneurs. This session will frame the role of impact investors in the re-entry process with the value of a network and what this may change in a long history of an unfair incarceration process.
Join us to hear these speakers in their personal stories and experience in their growth from re-entry, to becoming an impact entrepreneur and building systems to expand fair chance hiring practices and returning citizen entrepreneurs.
Speakers
El Sawyer
EL Sawyer is an acclaimed filmmaker, entrepreneur, and influential speaker based in Philadelphia.
In 2014, EL Sawyer co-founded the Media In Neighborhoods Group (MING), a multimedia firm specializing in crafting messaging for national brands and foundations. Over the years EL has developed many notable works including "Pull of Gravity," co-directed with Jon Kaufman, "Music Vets" a feature-length documentary film, and a pioneering digital media training program called, Shooters: Narrative Shift in 2019.
EL Sawyer's exceptional filmmaking and social justice contributions have garnered numerous accolades and fellowships that include: Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Ford Foundation and well as connection with President Obama to advise on his criminal justice reform initiatives. With a passion for utilizing media to ignite positive change, EL Sawyer draws upon personal experiences of poverty and incarceration to bring exposure to the challenges faced by marginalized communities.
Quan Huynh
The Executive Director for Defy Ventures in Southern California, a nonprofit whose vision is to shift mindsets to give people with criminal histories their best shot at a second chance through career readiness, personal development, and entrepreneurship training programs. After spending twenty-two years in and out of correctional institutions, Quan was paroled from a life sentence in 2015, and created his first company 6 months later. The following year, he received the Peace Fellowship Award for his work with the Alternatives to Violence Project.
Quan has been featured in Entrepreneur, PBS Newshour, Talks at Google, and numerous other publications and podcasts. He is the author of Sparrow in the Razor Wire.
Chris Bentley
Founder and Managing Principal of the De-Carceration Fund. Chris has over 15 years of experience in impact investing. Most recently, Chris was an Investment Manager at Serious Change Investments. Serious Change is an early-stage impact venture fund. Prior to that, Chris was a Principal at SustainVC, General Partner of the Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC) family of impact investment funds. Chris is a Co-Founder of GoodCompany Ventures, an accelerator for entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to large unmet social needs. He began his impact investment career as an Associate with Murex Investments, a Community Development Venture Fund.
Chris serves as an advisor to Village Capital Justice Tech, As You Sow Prison Free Funds, ImpactableX, and the Fair Food Fund.
Moderator
Michael Cosack
Has spent most of his professional career advising the trustees on the investment and fiduciary responsibilities regarding their institutional funds. As an entrepreneur, he has built several organizations, including one of the largest independent investment consulting firms in the Greater Philadelphia region, stewarding over $3.5 billion of combined assets. Michael is a Board Chair with ImpactPHL.
Who should attend?
High net worth individuals, family offices, endowment/foundation leadership, investment professionals, pension fund trustees, nonprofit leaders, and anyone interested in broadening their investment horizons.